


exhibit

by bluhen



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: M/M, i have. absolutely no clue how to tag this at all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 18:39:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11236890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluhen/pseuds/bluhen
Summary: astral is exquisite. it's been in a long glass case for as long as yuma can remember.





	exhibit

**Author's Note:**

> astral is referred to with it/its because astral is regarded as a sculpture in this. also i have no clue what this is i wrote it at 4 am.

astral is a glass model. astral has been in a case for a very, very long time.  
yuma looks on the case. yuma wonders if astral is real.  
there is a policeman standing by the doorway to the room astral is kept in. he stands up with his back very very straight.  
he notices yuma. "please don't touch the case," he says, very politely. yuma tells the policeman he will not, and takes a few steps back from the case.  
something about the glass of astrals body glitters in the spotlight. it's very pretty, yuma thinks. he looks at astrals hands. they look smooth and elegant.  
yuma decides to go home.  
-  
it is two days later. yuma goes back to the museum. he visits other exhibits, but he can't convince himself that he's there to see the paintings.  
he finds himself looking at astral again.  
"why is it named astral?" yuma asks the polite policeman-guard.  
the guard says, "i'm not sure. i think the curator says he found it in the stars. maybe that's why." the policeman-guard smiles. "you're a very curious kid."  
yuma shrugs, eyes not leaving astrals case. "i guess so."  
-  
yuma visits again, this time a week later. no one is in the room with astral. no one is in the museum at all except for yuma.  
yuma gets up on his tip-toes, and peers into astrals eyes.  
he thinks he sees them move from staring at the far wall to look back at him.  
he leans out of the doorway, checking each direction. no one is there. it's odd, yuma thinks, but he doesn't question it.  
yuma goes back to astrals case.  
he whispers, "did you really come from the stars?"  
there is silence. astral doesn't respond.  
astral doesn't respond.  
astral doesn't respond.  
yuma stares at astrals eyes a bit longer, and goes home.  
-  
yuma goes to the museum a few days later. there are people surrounding astral. they push up against the ropes surrounding its case and small children reach out to touch the glass, only to be scolded and their hands swatted away by their parents.  
"astral is very valuable! you shouldn't mess with it!"  
yuma is confused.  
astral has a name. astral is also treated like a sculpture. is astral an art piece or a person?  
yuma looks at astrals chest. faintly, markings cover astrals otherwise smooth body, barely-there indentations in perfectly neat shapes.  
yuma asks another policeman-guard, this one looking aloof and gruff, "what is astral?"  
the policeman-guard stares down at him.  
"it's a sculpture, or something."  
"where did astral come from?"  
the policeman-guard raises an eyebrow.  
"the curator says 'from another world.' honestly, i think his hippie nonsense is hard to believe. 'a world filled with stars and glowing light shaped like people.'"  
yuma stares up at the guard. he wonders why this guard doesn't believe in magic.  
-  
it's been a month. akari had become concerned about yuma going to the museum so often, so she'd started keeping a better eye on him.  
she let him go out that day. he said he was going to visit a friend.  
he had not lied.  
yuma came to the doors of the museum. no one was inside, and it was dark.  
he opened the doors. he thought it strange that they were unlocked, but, being a young boy filled with curiousity as he was, he went in anyway.  
yumas footsteps echoed throughout the empty halls.  
the paintings were darkened. no spotlights were on. in fact, no lights were on at all.  
yumas feet take him to astrals room. a glow emanates from the doorway.  
yuma takes slow, careful steps up to the doorway, and peeks through.  
he sees, astral, curled up with knees to its chest and face buried in them inside its case. it is glowing, from every surface of its body, although the light seems to be trapped inside its body.  
astral looks up and stares at yuma with empty glass eyes.  
it does not speak.  
"hello," yuma says, voice quiet from the effect of trembling guitar-string fear.  
astral does not respond.  
yuma walks across the room to sit cross-legged in front of astrals case.  
astrals face follows yuma as he moves.  
"so," yuma starts, treading over his words as if slimy river rocks, "did you really come from a world full of star-people?"  
astral stares, stares, stares,  
nods, once.  
yumas eyes grow wide.  
"really?!"  
astral nods, slower, brings its knees up closer to its chest.  
yuma scoots back a little, because astral is afraid, he thinks.  
"how long have you been here?"  
astral stares, for much, much longer, then holds up 4 fingers, very slowly.  
"four?" yuma asks.  
astral just nods.  
"four what?" yuma cocks his head. "four months?"  
astral shakes its head.  
"four years?"  
astral shakes its head.  
"four... decades?"  
astral does not shake its head. astral, instead, stares at its feet. yuma notices its feet don't have toes. really, astral has no defining features at all.  
"do you know?" yuma asks.  
astral looks up at yuma. it looks sad, somehow. yuma does not know how he knows this.  
yuma looks hard into astrals eyes, and it leans back away from him so far its head clinks against the glass of its case.  
yuma crawls under the ropes surrounding astrals case. astral seems to panic, arms flying to its sides, slipping around on the floor of the case and legs tapping against the case as they move back and forth.  
"no, shh! it's okay! i won't hurt you. i won't even touch you." yuma assures.  
astral still looks apprehensive.  
yuma looks directly into astrals blank eyes.  
"do you want to go home?"  
astral stares, stares, stares.  
"do you remember home?"  
astral nods, very, very, slowly.  
"do you want to go home?" yuma asks again.  
astral nods again.  
"right now?"  
astral nods, leaning forward.  
yuma stands up. he fumbles around the glass case, looking for some way to open it. astral steadily unfurls itself and stands up, staring at yuma as he searches.  
when yuma finds the latch, it breaks off at his touch. yuma does not question it.  
he opens the door, and astral glows brighter than yuma thinks even the sun must shine.  
astral steps out, trips, catches itself. it turns to stare at yuma.  
it cocks its head and opens its mouth. it does not speak, however, and closes it soon after.  
yuma asks, "i know i said i wouldn't touch you, but can i hold your hand for a bit?"  
astral nods, holds its hand out after a moment of contemplation.  
astral is smooth to the touch, and not quite warm, but not quite cold, either.  
"we're gonna go home, okay?" yuma says to astral, "maybe my dad will come home and take a look at you, he knows all kinds of stuff! i'm sure he'd know how to take you home!"  
they walk together out of the darkened museum, astrals footsteps tinkling like a windchime on the marble floors.  
yuma thinks that wherever glass snowglobe star-people come from must be wonderful.


End file.
